ADVANCED PLACEMENT EUROPEAN SEMINAR

CREATED BY Kyiana Williams

February 21, 2012

PROMPT• Analyze the impact of the First World

War on European culture (the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group) and society (religious,benevolent, cultural, scienti-fic, political, patriotic, or other purposes) in the interwar period (1919-1939)

Background

Before World War I, most people still believed in progress, reason, and the rights of the individual.

The rights of people were rising, this included women and workers as well. There were increasing developments in “social rights” such as old age pensions.

The main theme of culture in the 20th century was modernism.

This meant finding constant experimentation and new kinds of expression

SOCIETY

After WWI men and women began to question many of their optimistic views in life.

They began to question: reason, democracy, progress, respectability, religion ways of life and even humanities purpose.

New philosophies were developed, with different perspectives

of the world and different explanations

Nietzsche (1844-1900)

Friedrich Nietzsche wrote many pieces depicting his views of the world

Nietzsche believed that the West (Europe) had overemphasized rationalityand stifled the passion and animal instinct that drove human activity and true creativity

Nietzsche’s most famous line: “ a wise proclaims ‘God is dead’, dead because he has been murdered by lackadaisical [(lethargic)]modern Christians who no longer really believe in him.”

The death of God left people disoriented and depressed

Nietzsche attracted and influenced many German radicals who introduced their new developing views in philosophy.

Philosophy

With these new philosophies in revolt, came a split in two directions: Logical empiricism or logical positivism and existentialism.

Logical empiricism: (common in English- speaking countries) rejected most of the concerns of traditional philosophy – from the existence of God to the meaning of happiness, all being hot air.

Existentialism: Thinkers who loosely united in a courageous search for moral values in a world of terror and uncertainty. - giving meaning to life through actions, of defining oneself through choices –

ChristianityAfter WWI many theologians began to revitalize the fundamentals of Christianity.

These theologians were occasionally described as Christian existentialists

They too shared the loneliness and despair of other existentialist, but they stressed human being’s sinful nature, the need for faith and mystery of God’s forgiveness.

Religion was one meaningful answer to peoples despair in this time

-“One began to believe in heaven because one believed in hell” (Graham Greene). -

PhysicsThe Curies, Planck, and Einstein all went and challenged the ideas of Newtonian phyisics.

Curies: radium constantly emits subatomic particles and in turn doesn’t have a constant weight

Planck: subatomic energy is emitted in uneven little spurts which he called “quanta”. And not in an even stream as believed prior.

Einstein: theory of special relativity, time and space are relative to the viewpoint of the observer, with the exception to the speed of light.

Freudian Psychology

Based off his insights on the analysis of dreams and hysteria, Freud developed the view that behavior is irrational.

The key to understanding is that the mind is primitive, irrational unconscious, which he called id.

The ego: what a person can do

Superego: what a person should do.

Human behavior is the result of compromise between instinctual drives (sexual aggressive, and pleasure seeking desires) and the controls of rational thinking and moral values.

LiteraturePessimism. Relativism, and alienation also articulated in literature.

Writers wrote in 3rd person omniscient while describing realistic characters and their understandable relations to a harsh society.

There was also the use of stream-of-consciousness: writing in which a character’s thoughts are presented as occurring – randomly.

Writers also began to write more about individuals instead of society and relativity instead of realism.

Culture

Modernism

Art was too taking its turn from old forms and old values

Many modern pieces were found to be strange, disturbing, and even ugly

The twentieth century will probably stand as one of Western civilization’s great artistic eras

Architecture and Design

A new principle was developed: functionalism

Functionalism: buildings should serve, as well as possible, the purpose for which they were made.

Walter Gropius (1883-1969): merged the schools of fine and applied arts at Weimar into a single, interdisciplinary school, The Bauhaus.

Modern painting

With modern painting came impressionism and postimpressionism or expressionism

Impressionism: exact copying of objects to photography, artist of this sought to capture the momentary overall feeling, or impression.

Expressionism: a desire to know and depict worlds other than the visible world of fact.

- cubism: concentrated on a complex geometry of zigzagging lines and sharply angled, overlapping planes.

-dadaism: attacked all accepted standards of art and behavior, delighting in outrageous conduct.

-surrealism: fantastic worlds of wild dreams and complex symbols where paranormal activities or sights were depicted.

Modern Music

Music was also effected by the war.

Many opera and ballet pieces flourished after WWI, when irrationality and violence seemed to pervade the human experience.

Some composers turned their backs on traditions just like abstract painters.

Many audiences tried to resist the modern atonal music.

Only till after WWII did it begin to win acceptance.

Conclusion

During the Postwar many views of civilization changed. Rationalism deteriorated and many philosophies tried tearing at the belief of religion striking fear into many. New advances in science relating to what would later be used as the atomic bomb. And in art the introduction to modernism. With this new development in modernism came new branches of functionalism, impressionism, and surrealism.